


This Love

by gateship



Series: Avengers Assemble [25]
Category: Agent Carter (TV), Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Camp Lehigh, F/M, Minor Clint Barton/Darcy Lewis, Reincarnation, it's not doctor strange canon though, peggy's reincarnated because i can, references to events and characters from agent carter and agents of shield
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-09
Updated: 2018-10-23
Packaged: 2019-07-28 16:18:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16245332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gateship/pseuds/gateship
Summary: The Avengers are adapting to life in the Tower with relative ease. The biggest thing on the horizon seems to be Jan's push for a "team bonding dinner" and her and Hank's wedding. But then Steve meets Phil's replacement as SHIELD's Director of Operations and she looks remarkably familiar...Agent Margaret Johnson is settling down to her new job and life in NYC as SHIELD's Director of Operations. Things seem to be going well until she meets Captain America. Then a trip to clear out Camp Lehigh results in some truly unsettling dreams...





	1. But then I see your face

**Author's Note:**

> I aggressively listed to "Bad Liar" by Selena Gomez, "Wildest Dreams" and "This Love" by Taylor Swift, and a bunch of other songs while writing this.

Winter had always been his favorite time of year. Bucky had never understood it given what happened every winter. The cold had been bitter and cut him to the core, leaving a lasting ache in his bones. He spent more winters than not laid up in bed with pneumonia wracking his body. But then again, he had spent some summers, falls, and springs with pneumonia as well. And the cold air had caused an ever-present wheeze in his lungs at best or caused them to seize at worst. Bucky had always been so damned worried and scared for Steve’s life every winter. But there was one thing that winter had going for it that made it leagues better than the other three seasons.

Far, far fewer outdoor allergies.

But now that he had functioning lungs, no allergies, and a body that would actually do what he wanted, Steve spent as much time as he possibly could outside. For all the time he’d been outside during the war, it had been different. There had been moments of enjoying the outdoors, but they had been few and far between. Now though…

Summer had its moments of unbearable heat as it always had in New York. But now that the oppressive heat was fading into Fall, Steve thought Fall might be his favorite season.

It was certainly nice to see Central Park turning red and yellow. He ran through the park three or four times a week, schedule permitting. Tony liked to tease him about it, but Tony just didn’t understand it was like. For the majority of his life, he’d had a body that was mostly broken. After Dr. Erskine and the serum, he had a body that was able to do whatever he wanted and he didn’t have to worry about it failing or quitting on him.

And running. Running was just…he couldn’t put it into words. His body moving in ways it wouldn’t – it couldn’t – before.

Clint had come running with him once. It hadn’t lasted long given that Steve had lapped him twice. Clint made some comments about endurance and unfair advantages.

Nobody else wanted to come with him after that.

He ran in the mornings, before most other occupants of the Tower were awake. He liked running in the early hours before most of the city was awake. There were a few regulars he saw when he went. Bizarrely, he was looking forward to running during the winter.

The first real cold snap during the war had sent Bucky straight back into worrying mode. The Howlies had thought it was funny until Bucky went on a rant about Steve’s health. Dum Dum had asked how Steve had even left the house pre-serum.

Running was also something to distract him from the past. It wasn’t something he’d done outside of necessity before the Valkyrie had gone down. And running, he focused on his body.

 

He couldn’t run for long today given that he had a mission briefing in the late morning. The Avengers missions they’d been sent out on had been a variety of types – why exactly was California constantly literally on fire? He didn’t remember that from before – but all of the SHIELD missions were specifically had to do with espionage and intelligence collection. There hadn’t been many SHIELD missions that he’d been on his own for. Most of the time he was sent out with Clint, Natasha, or both. He didn’t mind so much. Being on his own made him think about the past a lot. Being on team missions made him think that way too, but getting used to everyone quirks and particularities… Well, it made him think of the old team, but it also helped keep his mind off of things. Trying to figure out what the hell Tony was going to do didn’t make him think so much about how Bucky was supposed to be at his back or Dernier was just up ahead scouting things out.

The only thing he could do without was Natasha trying to suggest women that he should ask out. He didn’t want to date. And it wasn’t just because Peggy was a sore spot on his heart. Everyone – Bucky and the other Howlies too – were sore spots in his chest. But he didn’t want to date. He was still getting used to this century, SHIELD, and the Avengers. Tony had suggested it was because Natasha was suggesting the wrong gender, clearly aiming to make him uncomfortable. When Steve had reminded Tony that Brooklyn was a very different neighborhood back in the day and that the entire LGBTQIA spectrum hadn’t been invented in the last sixty years. Tony had looked rather gob smacked, which was always fun to achieve.

 

By the time Steve had gotten back to the Tower, showered, and changed, Natasha and Clint had already left for SHIELD’s Manhattan offices. He wasn’t late for the meeting when he made his own way there, but he certainly wasn’t early. Which in Fury’s mind, meant he was late. They’d been sitting in the briefing room for twenty minutes and he still hadn’t showed up though. Clint was fooling around on his phone, texting possibly, to pass the time.

After the fourth snicker Natasha sighed. “Who are you even texting right now?”

“Why? You want to get in on the conversation?” Clint asked.

“Are you texting Darcy?” Natasha asked, snatching his phone from him suddenly.

“Hey! That’s a private conversation.”

“Do you really think that Fury doesn’t read those?” Natasha asked as she looked over the messages.

“Do you really think he’s going to spend the time to read my text messages?” Clint asked.

“How many dates have the two of you even gone on?” Natasha asked.

“Two,” Clint said.

“Hasn’t it been almost a month since you asked her out?” Steve asked. “And you’ve only gone on two dates?”

“We are both very busy people,” Clint said. “And we both live in the same building. And Thor gave me a shovel talk!”

“A what?” Steve asked, thoroughly confused.

Clint opened his mouth to explain, but the door opened and Fury stalked in.

The mission Fury outlined for them was, as expected, to gain intel on a group in Europe. Steve felt there was something deeper going on, but Fury was being fairly cagey about answering any questions they had. The meeting was over fairly quickly. The intel they were given was pretty brief and they were set to leave that night.

Fury strode out of the room before they could even get out of their seats.

“Are you going to ask Darcy to watch Lucky?” Natasha teased Clint.

“Lucky can pretty much take care of himself,” Clint said. “I’m gonna go head downstairs and give Carolyn the head’s up though.”

The three of them headed out of the room and towards the elevator bank. “Are you heading home?” he asked the other two.

“Pepper has merengues in the oven, so I’ll be heading back for a bit anyways,” Natasha said.

“Pepper’s making merengues?” Clint asked. “Save me some if I’m not back yet.” He glanced at Steve and said, “I already appreciated that Carolyn stress cooks, but I’m learning to enjoy the fact that Pepper stress bakes.”

Steve shrugged. “It is nice.”

As they rounded the last corner to elevator, someone crashed into Steve. She looked up from the files she had her nose buried in. “Oh, I apologize,” she said. “Captain Rogers,” and walked past.

Steve had only gotten a glimpse of her face, but he was taken somewhat aback. She looked remarkably like Peggy. He wasn’t really aware that he’d turned to look after her. “Who was that?” he asked.

“Agent Johnson,” Clint said. “You haven’t met her yet?”

“No,” Steve said. “I haven’t had the chance yet.” He turned back to the others. There must have been some odd expression on his face because Natasha frowned at him.

 

He didn’t forget about the woman who looked like Peggy, but the intel gathering mission was a little distracting. Fury had failed to mention that the group they were sent to observe was associated with Hydra. Steve didn’t know if Fury was only sending him on missions relating to Hydra or if Hydra was particularly active. Either way it was irritating.

So by the time he got back to New York two days later he’d half forgotten about Agent Johnson and her resemblance to Peggy.

* * *

He remembered once he set foot back at SHIELD for the debrief, but tried not to dwell on it. It was probably nothing anyways. In the time between Project Rebirth and the next time he’d seen Peggy there were plenty of women who’d caught his gaze out of the corner of his eye.

The debrief took barely any time at all and he was all set to head back to the Tower when a shout of his name down the hall drew his attention. Carolyn was there, dragging an embarrassed looking agent behind her.

“Steve, hey, Trip’s here so I’m introducing you before he leaves with Garrett again.”

“It’s really not necessary,” the man said. Now that he was closer, Steve recognized him from the files on the Howling Commandoes.

“Antione Triplett,” he said, extending a hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Trip shook Steve’s hand. “You know who I am?”

“I read your granddad’s file,” Steve said. “There was a note about your employment with SHIELD inside it.”

“Cool, you’ve been introduced,” Carolyn said. “I now have to go deal with Magneto shenanigans.”

“Wait, what?” Trip asked.

“It’ll be fine. Apparently, there was some come to Jesus moment – no, that’s wrong. He’s Jewish. What would that even be? I don’t know. Oh, hello Agent Johnson,” she said, looking behind Steve.

“Agent Potts,” came Johnson’s reply. “Agent Triplett, Captain Rogers.”

“Agent Johnson,” Trip said. “If you’ll excuse me, I have to find Agent Garrett for our mission briefing.”

After he was out of earshot Carolyn said, “I can’t decide which one of you scared him off.”

“It was probably you,” Steve said.

“I am offended by that,” Carolyn said.

“Don’t you have a situation involving Genosha to attend to?” Johnson asked.

“I’m multitasking. And waiting for my contacts within the Brotherhood to get back to me about the situation,” Carolyn said.

Steve frowned. “That’s the Magneto thing?”

“Yeah, it’s – hold on,” she said as her phone rang. “Potts. Wait, what exactly is he doing? Is it a world domination play or actually the beneficial thing it looks like? One sec,” she said into the phone. “I’ll see you later, Steve. Jan got the idea into her head for team dinners, so be prepared for that when you get home. I’ll have more intel for you and the Director later, Agent Johnson.”

Johnson nodded and Carolyn left them. “Do I want to know?” he asked.

“There’s nothing really to know just yet,” Johnson said. “Genosha’s always been a very insular nation, so no one’s sure what exactly is going on.” She paused. “I wanted to apologize for the other day when I ran into you.”

“It’s alright,” Steve said. He glanced down briefly. She really did look very much like Peggy.

“Well it was rude and hardly a proper first introduction. I’m surprised we haven’t met before, but I’d like to start over. Agent Margaret Johnson, Director of SHIELD Operations.”

That took Steve aback, even as he reflexively reached out to shake her hand. “Steve Rogers.” Same first name as Peggy too. He really needed to stop making comparisons. The flash of bright red polish on her nails was similar to what Peggy had worn like her own suit of armor. Straight hair and business attire were a noticeable visible difference between Peggy’s pin curls and military uniforms.

“Well, Captain Rogers, it is a pleasure to meet you. I hope I’ll have the pleasure of working with you in the future.”

* * *

It seemed that now that he’d met Agent Johnson, he was at the SHIELD offices nearly every day and always managed to see her while he was there. Which was lovely, really, because he was clearly going insane. The more he was around her, the more things he saw that reminded him of Peggy. It turned out that straight hair and suits weren’t enough to distract him after all.

Up until his first time meeting her, all of his non-Avengers missions came directly from Fury and his Avengers missions came from Phil. Afterwards, the two non-Avengers missions he’d been sent on came from Agent Johnson as the new Director of Field Ops. She also wanted his insight into the SSR and his missions during the war. He got the feeling that her focus was on Hydra at the moment.

He focused on not staring at her face too much, so he ended up staring at other things. Like her hands and fingernails. She always had red polish on her trimmed nails. The more he did look at her the more it unnerved him how much she looked like Peggy. So he just … didn’t look at her. Which was harder than he’d thought it would be.

He didn’t really have much to offer when it came to analysis on Hydra during the war that she didn’t already have. She seemed aware that it was a touchy, emotional subject. But no matter how sensitive someone was, thinking about the past and the possibilities and future he’d missed when he’d gone into the ice hurt like a slowly healing wound. A very, very slowly healing wound. It wasn’t even about missing out on anything he and Peggy could have had together. There was a part of him that felt that maybe Tony wouldn’t be as angry if Howard hadn’t spent so much time looking for the wreck of the Valkyrie. And Gabe had a wife and kids that he could have known. Maybe he would have had some impact on SHIELD’s early days.

Maybe not.

But still, he had frequent meetings with Agent Johnson. He’d noticed that someone in the Tower usually invited him to dinner or movie night after spending time at SHIELD, regardless of whether he had a meeting with Agent Johnson or not. Which honestly wasn’t a problem. Carolyn was in a deep nesting phase and cooking more than necessary. His list of things to ‘catch up on’ seemed remarkably similar to Thor’s list from Jane and Darcy. His list had somehow become a categorized and chronological monstrosity. So the frequent movies helped to cut the list down substantially. It did seem to keep growing, however.

And some of the movies on that list were pretty terrible, but Clint, Darcy, and Carolyn told him he had to watch _The Matrix_ sequels anyways. It was a pop culture passage and he had to suffer too. He was crossing things off pretty quickly, though.

It helped with the ache of missing his friends, but nothing was able to distract him from Agent Johnson. There were little things, things that he shouldn’t notice and didn’t notice in the other people around him.

Rather than brush her hair out of her face she blew it out of the way. Or, she tried to and got increasingly frustrated. She picked at her fingers, but not the polish. She wore heels but hated them, if her posture and usual meetings in her office said anything. She certainly didn’t wear them while at her desk. He couldn’t see to confirm given the solid bulk of her desk, but she was a couple inches shorter when she stood to greet him than when she stood to walk him out of her office. She drank her coffee black – and okay, he did know how the other Avengers took their coffee – but she seemed to regularly drink as much as Hank, Jane, or Tony when on a research binge.

Peggy had furiously blown at her hair when the wet and humidity destroyed her curls; her polish was never chipped but the skin surrounding it was atrocious; and though her uniform was always pristine, she hated the impracticality of heels in the field and wore boots and trousers whenever possible. And her coffee consumption had always astonished the Howlies.

Bucky had always joked about that.

He’d done some digging of his own on Agent Johnson. Morbidly, at two in the morning he’d looked at Peggy’s file that had come with those on the Howlies. He hadn’t looked at it when he’d looked at the others. Peggy had died before she could marry or have kids. That had hurt a lot, to know there wasn’t a chance to see anyone he knew again.

So he knew Agent Johnson wasn’t related to Peggy – there was a Sharon Carter, but she was Peggy’s great-niece – so he had no rational explanation for why Agent Johnson reminded him of Peggy so much. He had plenty of irrational explanations though.

* * *

The next time he was sent a meeting request from Agent Johnson, she looked frustrated, which of course, reminded him of Peggy even more.

“Thank you for coming,” she said as he walked into her office. “I’d like to offer you a spot on an upcoming operation. Well, it’s a research mission really. You know Camp Lehigh was used by SHIELD in its infancy?”

“I do, yes. But didn’t it change after that? I know there are new buildings,” Steve said.

“Yes, but it was never officially cleared out. It was initially kept as a sort of storage facility after all. You were there before it was SHIELD, when it was in the control of the SSR. I’d like you to come along to help with locations we may not know about, hidden spots.”

Steve could see where Agent Johnson was going with this, but he honestly didn’t want to go, and he would really be pretty useless. “I wouldn’t know of any hidden spaces. They just had us in the barracks, mess hall, field, or in medical. We weren’t allowed near anything confidential. And even after Dr. Erskine’s death I only went back to collect my things while they figured out what to do with me.”

“You don’t think you could help at all? No insights to offer?” she asked, frowning slightly.

He shrugged. “I wasn’t very liked while I was there either. Dr. Erskine pushed to have me there. But the first time I saw the inside of an SSR office was after I rescued the 107th. If you really want, I came come, but I don’t think I’ll have anything to offer. I don’t even think I can help with what you bring back, but I can look that over too if you want.”

By the time he left her office and was heading back to the Tower he’d convinced Agent Johnson that he shouldn’t go to Camp Lehigh. He really would be useless when it came to searching for stuff. He’d told her what he did know, what buildings had been what and which were new. The site had been abandoned 40 years ago when SHIELD moved into New York City, but nobody had ever been back to check that it had been cleared out fully. So he understood why she wanted to check, but he really had told her everything he could contribute. She said he could change his mind, but he knew he wouldn’t.

Jan’s team bonding dinner had been postponed for a variety of reasons over the last month or so. First it was Steve’s mission, then Pepper had some meeting with the Board that Tony refused to leave California for, then Jane had a meeting with some faculty at Culver University involving funding for her research. But _now_ the stars were finally aligned so that Jan could host her requested “team bonding dinner.” She’d sent a message out to Bruce at the beginning of the month, but he’d responded that he wasn’t even on either American continent.

“Why are we doing this again?” Hank asked.

“Because we’re a team. We saved the world once and we’ve been on a few smaller things together, but we haven’t had much team bonding time,” Jan said. “It’s something I think we should do in order to be a more efficient team. Also we’re like separate teams within the team right now. It’s you and me, Clint and Natasha, Tony and his own ego, you know.”

Hank sighed. “But does it have to be a dinner party? You know I hate those.”

“This isn’t a work dinner thing,” Jan said. “It’s just us. There won’t be any schmoozing. It’s just us with buckets of Italian food. Now, you are going to go upstairs, and I am going to pick up the buckets of Italian food. Don’t antagonize Tony,” she said, poking him in the chest. She stepped into the waiting elevator. “Love you, bye!”

Hank waited for one of the other elevators to take him up to what Tony insisted on calling “the Party Deck.” Hank thought the name was absolutely ridiculous, but the space was designed specifically with Tony Stark parties in mind. Well, maybe not the kitchen, Hank thought to himself as the elevator door slid open onto one of the residential floors. Thor, Jane, and Darcy stood on the other side.

“You heading up now?” Jane asked.

“Jan’s getting the food,” Hank said.

“How much food?” Darcy asked. “Jane hasn’t eaten all day and there’s Thor and Steve to take into consideration,” Darcy said.

“I’m sure she did,” Jane said.

The elevator doors opened and they all walked out onto the lower part of the split level common area. While it had a kitchen, it didn’t actually have a table. Just an eat at island and a bar. Rather than get a table for the space, the plan was to just eat on the couches and use the frankly very large coffee table.

“That bar cart is literally just hard liquor,” Darcy said as they made their way over. “Is this what a Tony Stark shindig is?”

“There’s wine, beer, and non-alcoholic beverages too,” Pepper said. She and Carolyn were the only two already there. “Also things for cocktails if you’re inclined to make them.”

“Depends on what we’re having for dinner,” Jane said.

“Italian,” Hank said. “Buckets of it, according to Jan.”

 “Tony and Jan the last to get here?” Steve asked as he, Clint, and Natasha came over from the elevator

“Jarvis has strict instructions to get Tony out of the lab by whatever means necessary in,” Pepper said, checking her watch. “Five minutes.”

“Jarvis listens to you like that?” Hank asked.

“Jarvis knows who’s in charge,” Pepper said. “He’s known for years. I just got less subtle about it once we started dating.”

“I have food!” Jan called from the elevators. She wheeled over a cart loaded with covered dishes.

“Did you cook all of this?” Steve asked, looking slightly alarmed at the quantity.

“God no. I got this from the restaurant on the third floor. There’s your metabolism _and_ Thor’s to take into consideration. Tony’s not here yet?” Jan asked.

“He’ll be here soon,” Pepper said. “I told Jarvis to kick him out of his lab.”

“Your stepson’s one of my favorite things about living here,” Carolyn said.

Pepper stared at her sister for a minute. “My what?” she finally asked.

“No, I definitely see it,” Clint said.

“Wait, where do I rank on your list of favorite things?” Pepper asked.

“Oh, definitely top five,” Carolyn said. “Access to all this delicious food is another. Can we eat now, or do we have to wait for Tony?”

“He’s on his way, you can wait a minute or two more,” Pepper said.

“But the baby wants some garlic bread,” Carolyn said.

“Use your powers to find out where he is,” Pepper said, moving to pour herself a glass of wine.

“He’s only a floor away. Can we eat now?”

“You whine a lot more while pregnant,” Natasha said. “And I lived with you while you worked full time and got a master’s degree in two years.”

“God save us if you and Phil keep procreating,” Clint said.

“Did you _really_ have to turn Jarvis on me?” Tony asked as he walked out of the elevator.

“Food now!” Carolyn said, turning pleading eyes onto Jan.

Jan sighed. “Alright. Everybody dig in. Though where is your husband? I wanted him to be here.”

“Work,” Carolyn said around the garlic bread she was holding between her teeth as she put more food on her plate.

“Why’s he at HQ?” Clint asked.

“I don’t know. I’ve got Magneto problems to deal with,” Carolyn said. “Though I’m not sure how much of a problem it actually is.”

“How is Magneto taking over an island nation and kicking all the humans off not a problem?” Tony asked.

“Because those humans were running experiments on mutants and using them as a slave labor force,” Carolyn said. “Also, he didn’t actually kill that many people. The vast majority of the humans on the island were shoved onto yachts and one random cruise ship. Sure, they’re pissed, but they were literally torturing people. Magneto was incredibly restrained.”

“How do you know that?” Hank asked.

“I’m in charge of that crap at SHIELD. There’s been rumors about Genosha for years, but they’ve always been so insulated. Plus, his boyfriend runs the school I went to, I know one of his kids, and James’s brother is in the Brotherhood even if they don’t get along,” Carolyn said.

“Whatever, if it becomes a problem the X-People can handle it,” Tony said.

“And if they ask for assistance we’ll offer it,” Jan said.

So, what are we supposed to do team bonding wise?” Clint asked as Tony started to comment.

“We talk about stuff. I’m not going to force anything,” Jan said. “We just don’t know each other very well. I wanted to fix that.”

“So we’re just … talking,” Tony said. He sounded skeptical.

“Yes,” Jan said. “About whatever you want to.”

“My mother called the office line and for some reason my assistant put it through,” Pepper said. Carolyn winced. “So that was a delightful thirty minutes I had today.”

“Is your mom really that bad?” Jane asked.

“Yes,” Pepper and Carolyn said simultaneously.

“From what I’ve heard, both their parents are terrible. Carolyn didn’t invite them to the wedding,” Clint said.

“The wedding itself had 40 guests and the vast majority of them were mutants,” Carolyn said. “Because it took place at a mutant school.”

“Were they at the reception?” Tony asked. “I didn’t meet them if they were there.”

“They tried to crash it,” Natasha said.

“Wait- they what? Nobody told me that,” Carolyn said.

“Phil didn’t want you to know, so security kicked them out,” Natasha shrugged. “Security also might’ve included some mutants at that point.”

“Oh, Clint, some woman named Bobbi called the front desk for you,” Darcy said. “Why don’t we have someone working the desk yet?”

“Bobbi called?” Clint asked. “What did she want? How did you even get that call anyways?”

“I was walking by the phone,” Darcy said.

“I’m in the process of looking for someone,” Tony said. “Fury has _ideas_ even though it’s my building,” he added darkly.

“She wanted me to tell you to call her or she’s going to kidnap Lucky. I assume you know who she is considering it sounded like Kate was cackling in the background,” Darcy said.

“Bobbi was his first trainee. She, however, actually works for SHIELD. Kate doesn’t,” Natasha said.

“I like Kate,” Jan said. “Though I tend to like rich kids who aren’t spoiled pains-in-the-ass as a matter of principle.” She shrugged. “You meet enough people who let money get to their heads.” She eyed Tony. “Like you.”

Tony shrugged.

“Steve, did Agent Johnson ask you about the mission to Camp Lehigh?” Natasha asked.

“Yes. And I’m not going,” Steve said. “They didn’t let me near any of the secret things and they built at least four buildings after Project Rebirth moved out.” He looked at Tony. “What happened to the machine your dad built?”

“He very thoroughly dismantled it and then destroyed it,” Tony said. “All the blueprints and notes were in the locker Fury gave me except for a few key elements. In the notes he said that he never wrote those down and half of what he did write is in code. He didn’t want anyone else to figure out how to create super soldiers.” Tony looked a little angry and Pepper patted his leg as she got up to get another glass of wine.

“Well, rumor is that Hydra was and they probably still are. Hydra as a whole is into weird stuff,” Carolyn said.

“Can we talk about something that isn’t upsetting?” Darcy asked. “The last of the Halloween costume mockups came in today.”

“Can we see them?” Jan asked.

“They’re downstairs. Barret was going to call you in tomorrow to get your opinions on the physical ones, but I have pictures,” Darcy said. She pulled out her phone, swiped a few times, and tossed it to Jan.

“Why don’t you have a Stark phone?” Tony asked as Natasha leaned towards Jan to look at the photos.

“Because your phone isn’t on the market yet and therefore isn’t on my parents’ phone plan,” Darcy said.

“ _And_ you’re on your parents’ plan?” Tony asked, sounding insulted.

“It’s like 50 bucks a month to be on my own phone plan,” Darcy said. “Excuse me if I don’t want to spend that.”

“Tony looked at them all. “Do any of you have Stark phones? You’re all supposed to. Pepper, didn’t I give them all phones? Jarvis?”

“You told me to ‘make a note, Jarvis, phones.’ I have reminded you on multiple occasions, but you have not actually done so,” Jarvis said.

“Jarvis, can you add that to _my_ to do list for tomorrow?” Pepper asked.

“Certainly, Miss Potts.”

“Thank you, Jarvis. Steve, Thor, who’s in charge of your phones?” Pepper asked.

“It’s SHIELD’s plan and dime,” Natasha said. “You’ll have to talk with Fury if you want to switch them.”

“I’ll arrange a meeting then,” Pepper said. She looked towards Jan. “How’s the wedding planning going?”

“Very last final stages,” Jan said. “Thank God.”

“You all messed up the seating chart, so thanks for that,” Hank said, looking at all the Avengers.

“He didn’t want to invite you all,” Jan said. “But he hated doing the chart the first time.”

“No, I get it,” Carolyn said. “And I had two receptions. Though the bigger one – well, actually they were both sort of free for all.”

“We should do that,” Hank said.

“After all the effort we went through with the seating chart and the caterer, we are not ditching it all,” Jan said.

“When my cousin got married all she did was bitch the whole time,” Darcy said. She looked at Thor and asked, “What are weddings like on Asgard?”

Jane glared viciously behind Thor’s back. 

“It depends on station, but the premise is the same. Both people to be wed participate in rituals prior to the weddings, though I only know of those for the men,” Thor said. Darcy stuck her tongue out at Jane behind Thor’s back. “The groom journeys to retrieve a weapon from their ancestor. The bride also retrieves a weapon from their ancestor as well. I am not sure how, though.”

“At the ceremony, which is usually held out of doors,” Thor continued, “the bridal party arrives to meet the groom’s party. Things are slightly different, of course, when both parties are bridal or groom.”

“Wait, you’ve got queer marriage on Asgard?” Tony asked.

“I understand you do not on Midgard, but yes. Many realms acknowledge such a union,” Thor said. “But the ceremony is essentially the same after that point. The couple offer one another rings on the hilts of their weapons and then exchange them. After that there is a race to the feasting hall. The loser must serve drink to the feast for the duration. Anything less than a three day feast is not a wedding worth attending.”

“Your receptions last multiple days?” Hank asked, looking horrified.

“The wedding feast for my mother and father lasted nearly three weeks,” Thor said proudly. “Oh, also the married couple is given cats.”

“Why cats?” Clint asked.

“Freyja is the patron of love and fertility. She is also the patron of cats and has two that pull her chariot,” Thor said. “Even I cannot best them.”

“Those must be some big cats,” Darcy said.

“So, are these big weddings?” Jan asked.

“They can be,” Thor said. “If my brother was to return to Asgard and wed Sif, the ceremony would be quite large and the feast would last days upon days. Their betrothal would be celebrated with days upon days of feasting as well.”

“Engagements involve feasts as celebrations too?” Hank asked, continuing to look horrified.

“Can you tell he hates social activities?” Jan asked dryly. “He’s lucky I love him.”

“Are you looking forward to teaching in the spring?” Pepper asked Hank. “It was nice that they let you start in the spring and not worry about the wedding or the honeymoon.”

“I am very much looking forward to teaching,” Hank said. “Normal things like grading and telling students that the answer to their very stupid question is in the syllabus.”

“The answer is always in the syllabus,” Darcy said.

“I just want you to remember that I’m not your assistant anymore,” Jan said. “You may have to remind yourself to do your grading.”

Hank frowned. “Hmm. I’ll need to work on that.”

“You can’t possibly be as bad as when they made me teach,” Jane said. “I always ended up doing all the grading right before exams. Which is why they let me stop teaching and just research.”

Jane and Hank devolved into university shop talk and Thor and Jan started talking weddings and cultural differences. As Pepper got up to get more wine – because the carbs would counter some of the buzz and Christ, after talking to her mother she deserved it – she looked at the group around the coffee table and diminishing platters of food.

Yeah. Jan had the right idea. Team bonding night was a good idea.


	2. like the battle of troy, there's nothing subtle here

Though she certainly would have appreciated his input and assistance in investigating Camp Lehigh, she did understand why Captain Rogers declined her invitation. She also hadn’t really thought about the full implications of asking him. It probably wouldn’t have been a very positive experience to see the place he’d been to in another lifetime.

And she didn’t really think there would be much at the base. It had been abandoned and the notes all said that essential information and equipment had been removed. And anything left behind was decades old, so while it would be valuable it wasn’t crucial. Digitizing it would certainly be a task.

She’d ordered her crew to look at every room and nook and cranny in every building. She was supervising, and they had been pulling things out and loading them into the trucks. Though supervising she was also doing her own poking around.

The crew was almost done with the current building, so she headed over to the next one.

As soon as she stepped into the building something felt … off.

Why on Earth was this building familiar? Familiar beyond just the brief and photos she’d looked over before she went to see it. She knew without even thinking or referring to the blueprints where the storage room was, where the offices were. She’d managed to sneak away from the team surveying it for whether or not it should be renovated. The hallways, though dusty, were familiar to her. Almost as if it had been a dream she’d had once upon a time. She found herself in front of a door at the back of the compound without quite realizing that she’d even had a destination in mind.

The lights flickered for a second before holding strong when she turned them on. It was an office, dusty blackout curtains blocking any outside light from coming in. There were maps on the walls and old ones too. Older than they should’ve been given when the facility was shut down. She peered at them, moving around the room. They looked to be from the late 1950s or early 1960s given the boundary lines and territorial areas outlined on them. There was only one wall free of maps but she frowned at it. There was something about it. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but there was something…

She reached out towards the wall. She must have hit some sort of mechanism on the wall by accident when she did so, because a small compartment clicked open the slightest bit. She stuck a fingernail in to pry it open. The hinges needed to be oiled and it was a little difficult to pry open. But once she had, a rather thick stack of files and documents became visible. She pulled it out and flipped the top folder open.

**Werner Reinhardt**

Why was that name familiar?

“Agent Johnson!” someone called from outside the office. She turned to go without looking back at the office even though something was still off about the space.

* * *

She didn’t get the chance to look at the file again after dumping it in with the rest of the materials they were bringing back from Camp Lehigh. She’d honestly half forgotten about them until she reached her apartment that night. Why had they been hidden in that secret compartment? There was certainly something peculiar about them, and something familiar about the name, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.

She chalked the dreams she had that night up to an overactive imagination.

It wasn’t until she’d had the same dream of telling the man he was going to rot in the Rat for all of time for three nights in a row that she went hunting for that file again. She first searched the Rat’s prisoner logs to see if there was a Werner Reinhardt. There wasn’t, but it seemed like some of the files hadn’t been digitized yet. The physical files weren’t located in New York, but rather at the Rat. Maybe that was something they needed to work on digitizing. She then headed to the storage room where all the files from Camp Lehigh had been placed. It took a little digging, but eventually she found the files she’d pulled from the hidden compartment.

She was halfway back to her office when she ran into Captain Rogers in the elevator. He’d been awkward around her really ever since their first meeting. She wasn’t completely sure why, but he was completely professional and honestly, they didn’t see one another all that often.

“How was Camp Lehigh?” he asked after an awkward moment of silence in the elevator.

“We’re still going through the files,” she said, slightly lifting the files in her arms. “Is there anything that you’d like to take a look at?”

“Ah, no. I don’t – unless you think anything’s relevant,” Rogers said.

The elevator doors opened on her office floor and she stepped halfway through it. “I’ll let you know if I find anything that might be of interest to you,” she said.

Rogers nodded. “Thank you.”

The elevator doors started to close in on her. “Ah, well have a good day then,” she said and backed out of the doors. After they closed she sighed. “Really?’ she muttered to herself and headed towards her office.

The offices in the New York SHIELD branch had far more glass involved than she felt comfortable with. It was a secret agency yet anyone walking past her office could peer into the head height windows that faced the hallway. She had noticed that most people kept those windows blacked out constantly. She didn’t, if only because she liked to know who was coming to her door and because she was nosy. Since she felt something weird was going on she blacked out the windows in her office and set the stack of files down on her desk. The stack was rather impressively large and, upon first brief glance through all of them, were written by former Director Carter. That was odd. Why would Director Carter have hidden these files behind a secret panel rather than either filing them or simply outright destroying them?

She went back to the file she’d seen first at the base and began to read. The information it contained within detailed the May 7, 1945 capture of Reinhardt and his compatriots. Director Carter’s writing was so vivid that Johnson felt as though he could see the poor woman in a cage, see the Howling Commandoes as they contained and corralled the Hydra agents.

Further files contained information pertaining to the curious objects found in Reinhardt’s possession. There was little information on them beyond what the woman – and she was never named or identified in any of the documents – had told them. Reinhardt hadn’t been willing to divulge much without signing a deal to come to America. The information there was outlined the objects as being incredibly dangerous for anyone who touched them with naked skin. Apparently, it turned people to stone.

She made a mental note to look into the storage facility Director Carter had stored them in. It didn’t hurt to just make sure that they were actually there.

The last folder didn’t contain official documentation regarding Reinhardt’s capture, but rather prisoner files from the Rat as well as a small, bound notebook. She flipped through the prisoner files, which turned out to be two very different versions of Reinhardt’s intake paperwork. One fully detailed all of his crimes and experiments and the other…didn’t. Neither set of paperwork said anything about what happened to Reinhardt after he was logged into the Rat. Presumably he was locked in a cell, but there was nothing to reference any of that in either set of the papers. She turned to the notebook to hopefully find some more information.

Reinhardt’s name was handwritten on the first page of the notebook. The second had more handwriting, a precise cursive script that read:

_I’m aware that this is the furthest thing from secure. Howard’s a snoop and I’ve no doubt he might find this one day, not to mention the other people that might. But there may come a day when Werner Reinhardt might become relevant again so there should be a record of this._

_And I think Howard would agree with my decision to strip Reinhardt of his crimes and log him as someone committed to Hydra but of no value to the United States government so he may rot in a cage like that poor woman for the rest of his miserable life. So Howard, if you are reading this, don’t be so quick to judge just yet. Some of this is in the official report that I took with me in my brief reassignment to the Los Angeles offices of the SSR and hid at Camp Lehigh when I returned to New York. The rest is my personal account of the events that led to my decision to bury Reinhardt in the Rat. I didn’t have the authority to make these decisions, nor the authority to actually do what I did, but I believe it was in all of our best interests not to bring this man to the United States to work with the government._

_Howard, if you are reading this, this is the same rationale for why I do not want Arnim Zola involved in the founding of our new organization._

Johnson continued reading avidly as Director Carter recounted the events from Reinhardt’s capture in 1945 in her own words with her own opinions. The official reports had been vivid in their imagery yes, but there had been a professional veneer of distance from the events. Here, in Director Carter’s own handwritten words, the anger and disgust was visceral. Once she got to Director Carter’s final conversation with Reinhardt Johnson had to pause.

_It was clear that he wanted a deal as soon as I stepped into the room. And he knew the pen had been left on the table as a test. I was interested to see what he would do, but I had a feeling that he wouldn’t touch it. And while the United States government has made many deals with Nazi and Hydra scientists…I feel that it is a mistake. The SSR isn’t entirely an American organization. The General is intent on working with Zola, which I also disagree with. That I have very little control over._

_Reinhardt spoke of blue angels descending from the heavens either with a gift for humanity or to conquer. He said it was a myth from the East. It’s not something I’d heard before and I learned very little when I searched for it. There’s a Nordic myth of Odin coming with a gift, but that could be just as truthful as blue angels. Reinhardt’s intentions with those poor people he tortured and murdered was to find a way to defend humanity when those blue angels return._

_When I went back he really did think there was a deal in his future. I did feel a slight, sick pleasure as I told him that we were going to forget him, forget his work, and bury him. He looked less and less confident with every word I uttered._

That was…precisely what she’d dreamed of. Almost exactly down to the word. How on Earth had she known what had actually happened at that moment, some sixty-seventy years ago?

_I thought about changing the paperwork and documentation, to give him a new name that would ensure he remained buried forever. Instead I removed the precise details of the atrocities he committed. I don’t want anyone to get the idea to pull him out so that he can continue his research. There’s now been so much turnover in regard to the leadership of the SSR that he will get lost in the Rat. The Howling Commandos that were there with me would know if they saw him, of course, but I highly doubt they’ll ever make their way to the Rat. Especially since the Rat is under SSR control and Mr. Dugan works for Howard and I now._

What the hell was going on?

* * *

The dreams about Reinhardt hadn’t been the end of it. In fact, they’d been the beginning of things. Her dreams were growing increasingly odd and increasingly about Peggy Carter. At least, she thought they were.

She was sleeping terribly because she kept waking up after each dream ended, only to fall asleep into a different dream. She would sleep for a chunk of time, wake up, fall back for another chunk, wake up, and then repeat the process. She was getting ready on autopilot in the mornings until she managed to get enough coffee in her. At night she’d shower and then collapse in bed.

So far she’d dreamed of working for the SSR, being in the field of what seemed like World War II, of people that felt familiar, of Bletchley, and one very alarming dream that involved a nearly naked Captain America while she was equally nearly naked. And they might have been in a tent. Those details were a little fuzzy. [1]

And of course, she then ran into him later in the day of that particular dream. She most definitely hadn’t blushed and run away.

She’d requisitioned the paperwork from the Rat – hiding it all in an order to digitize the paperwork. But instead of actually sending the files, they’d sent some truly atrocious photocopies. Physical ones no less. Digital scanners did exist and should be used, not physical printouts.

She was working her way through the giant stack of folders, moving onto the next one once she managed to decipher the name on the file. Any actual digitization efforts were going to have to wait until there were cleaner copies. The files weren’t in any sort of chronological or alphabetical order so it was very, very irritating and time consuming work.

That, coupled with the fact that she had actual work to do _and_ had to explain the Rat request to Fury, meant that she was overworked somewhat. And running into Steve – Captain American all the time wasn’t helping. He made the dreams worse.

Well, if she admitted it to herself, the Captain America dreams weren’t actually all that bad if she ignored the one where he’d been crying in a blown out bar.

* * *

Ever since the trip to Camp Lehigh a week and a half prior, Agent Johnson had been acting weird. Not just around him, though she certainly was. There was one day they’d run into one another that she’d blushed and all but ran in the opposite direction.

Somehow, though, he’d been roped into or elected to ask Johnson to yet another team bonding dinner. Or maybe it was just dinner. Agent Hill was invited too, so maybe it was less team bonding and more dinner party.

He knocked on her office door, surprised to see the office windows were blacked out.

“Come in!”

The office looked like a bit of a disaster zone, with folders of untidy paper stacked about. There were piles on the desk, the shelving units, and the coffee table.

“Uh. Sorry, you’re busy,” Steve said.

Johnson looked up from where she was squinting at a file. “Oh. Captain Rogers. Hello.” She frowned. “Did we have a meeting today?”

“No, I’ve been elected to ask you to dinner.”

She looked startled. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Carolyn – Agent Potts wants you and Agent Hill to come to dinner at the Tower with all of us.”

“Oh,” she said, blushing slightly. “Thank you for bringing the message along. I can’t make any promises, given my current workload, but I’ll do my best.”

“I can see that,” Steve said, looking around at the piles of paper. A corner of one folder caught his eye. “Why do you have Dum Dum’s file?”

“He and the Howling Commandoes were involved in a mission I’m looking into. All this paperwork is probably not related, but when I requested files I was sent a hodge podge of nonsense.”

“What mission?” Steve asked. Why hadn’t she asked him? She’d been so insistent on Camp Lehigh.

“It was just before VE Day,” Johnson said. “They assisted in the capture of a Hydra facility. I’m looking at files on the personnel taken into SSR custody. We found some information on it at Camp Lehigh.”

“Oh,” Steve said. Yeah, that would be why she hadn’t asked him. “Ah. Well, just let Carolyn know. About dinner.”

“Yes, I will,” Johnson said.

Steve wasn’t in a daze exactly as he left Johnson’s office and SHIELD HQ, but he was certainly mulling over what she’d said. He hadn’t looked at what the Howlies had done after the Valkyrie went down. He’d seen that they continued to go on missions, even after the war.

He couldn’t look at them. It still hurt to think about those he’d lost, but … well, he’d ask Phil or Carolyn later.

When he got back to the Tower he detoured to the Avengers offices before heading up to his floor. There still wasn’t anyone operating the front desk of the Legal and PR floor. Still, he was surprised to find a piece of paper taped to the door to Clint’s office that said _“CLINT CALL BOBBI! I’M YOUR GIRLFRIEND, NOT YOUR ANSWERING MACHINE!”_

He wandered through the other offices, but nobody was on the first floor. Nobody was in their offices on the second floor either, save Phil. Which wasn’t that surprising, honestly. He’d never seen Tony, Jan, or Hank in their offices, preferring their lab spaces instead. Phil was usually in his office, though he could sometimes be found upstairs if Carolyn was working from home. Since Steve knew Carolyn was working from home, there was a 50-50 chance he’d be working upstairs. But he was in his office, so Steve knocked lightly on the open door.

“Captain,” Phil said. “What can I do for you?”

“I dropped by SHIELD to invite Agent Johnson to the dinner and she mentioned that she’s looking into a mission the Howling Commandoes went on.” Phil’s expression didn’t change, but there was something in his eyes. “And I was wondering if I could possibly look at their missions too.”

“That’s not a problem,” Phil said. “Or it shouldn’t be anyways. I can have the files sent to your account or paper ones sent to your floor.”

“Whatever’s easier, it’s fine,” Steve said.

 

Later, Carolyn stomped onto the party deck where Steve and some of the others were. Though it was a Tony Stark party space, it had really good light and an excellent view of Central Park. He spent time up there sketching.

“What’s up?” Jan asked.

“Johnson can’t come to dinner,” Carolyn said, sitting down on the couch. “Maria can still come.”

“Is it because of the op the Howlies went on that she’s looking into?” Steve asked.

“She’s what? I don’t know about that. She requested a bunch of files from The Rat,” Carolyn said. “She just said there was an op she was working on that was taking a lot of time.”

“Well, she’s got files all over her office,” Steve said.

“Really?” Carolyn asked. “Has she seemed odd to you? Ever since the Camp Lehigh thing she’s been weird.”

“Do you know her well enough to know what her baseline is in order to know what ‘weird’ is?” Jan asked.

“Okay, no.”

“She’s been acting different,” Steve said. “But I don’t know her well enough either. She does seem like something’s changed.”

“How often do you see her, anyways?” Hank asked.

“Fairly often as it turns out,” Steve said. “But she has been acting different since the trip to Camp Lehigh.”

“She’s looking into something the Howling Commandoes did? I wonder how that came about. And why files from The Rat are involved,” Carolyn said. She glanced towards the elevator. “Tony’s pissed.”

“—why he gets to have a say as to who’s in my Tower,” Tony was saying as the elevator doors opened.

“Because it’s the Avengers. And I’m not totally opposed to Fury having input,” Pepper said as she walked out of the elevator after him.

“It’s my Tower!” Tony huffed as he headed to the bar. “Also what was up with that Agent Johnson?”

“Was she acting weird? She’s been acting weird,” Carolyn said.

“She took on look at me, muttered something, and then all but ran away,” Tony said.

“She did that to me the other day,” Steve said.

“Does she look familiar to you?” Tony asked Steve. “I was looking through some of the stuff in dad’s locker and she looks a lot like some woman in a couple photos with him.”

“What woman?” Carolyn asked.

“SSR uniform in one, brown hair I guess, it was lighter than dad’s.”

“Wait, you think she looks like…” Carolyn trailed off. “Yeah, she does actually look like Director Peggy Carter.”

“So, you ever met Director Carter?”

“I think she is Peggy,” Steve heard himself say. What? Where had that – no, he knew where it had come from. He just didn’t know why he’d said it.

“What?” Jan asked.

Steve opened his mouth and then closed it.

“You think Agent Johnson is Director Carter,” Pepper said. “Who…” she trailed off, looking at her sister.

“Died in the 50s. One of the Howling Commandoes briefly became Director after that,” Carolyn told Pepper. “Is this because she looks like her and you two were … together?”

“No. I don’t – I can’t explain it,” Steve said.

“Try. Because an alien-god combo lives with us,” Hank said. “And reincarnation sounds a bit out there, even for us.”

“Hold on,” Pepper said. “Jarvis, would you please as Thor to come up here if he’s in the building?”

“Certainly, Miss Potts,” Jarvis said.

“Why are you getting Thor?” Tony asked.

“Because he’s an alien and might know something we don’t,” Pepper said.

“I – She feels like Peggy,” Steve said. “And yes, it was originally that she looks the same. But, she has the same habits and … I don’t know. And she’s been weird since Camp Lehigh.” He sighed. “Maybe it’s nothing.”

“Well, let’s wait for Thor,” Pepper said.

“How do you check to see if someone’s reincarnated?” Jan asked.

“I might know a guy,” Carolyn said. “Or about a guy, anyways.”

“How? How can you possibly know a guy who can do a reincarnation test?” Tony asked.

“I know lots of people. I’m in charge of keeping track of people. And he’s in Greenwich, so he’s local,” Carolyn said.

“Jarvis said you requested me?” Thor asked as he stepped off of the elevator. “What is it you need?”

“Do you know if reincarnation’s a thing?” Jan asked.

“What is that?” Thor asked. “I have not come across this word before.”

“Uh … when a person’s soul is born into a new body?” Jan asked. “How does Buddhism describe it?”

Carolyn pulled out her phone. “Reincarnation is the philosophical or religious concept that an aspect of a living being starts a new life in a different physical body or form after each biological death,” she read off. “Or so says Wikipedia.”

Thor frowned and sat on one of the couches. “I am not familiar with the concept. I understand it, but have not come across it before. This has never occurred on Midgard?”

“Well, some religions believe in it, but I’m pretty sure she’s not Buddhist,” Carolyn said. “Nor do I think it’s usually supposed to work out that you look identical.”

“Well, if I can locate my brother I can discuss the matter with him,” Thor said. “He is more learned in such magical topics than I am. He may know of this.” He looked at them all. “Why do you ask?”

“Rogers here thinks Agent Johnson of SHIELD is the reincarnation of Agent Carter of SHIELD,” Tony said.

“ _Director_ Carter helped your father found SHIELD,” Carolyn said.

Tony frowned. “So if she is – not that I’m saying that she is – but if so do you think she remember? Or do you think she ever went to one of the houses?”

Carolyn was scrolling through her phone. “Well, she helped get your dad off the hook for treason. And – oh. Sending that file to Natasha. But when she was working out of the LA SSR branch, it looks like she actually stayed at your dad’s mansion there.”

“She stayed at Howard’s mansion?” Steve asked. He didn’t quite know what to make of that.

“I think they were friends,” Carolyn said with a shrug.

“You really think that Johnson is Carter?” Pepper asked. “It’s certainly not the strangest thing I’ve heard of.”

“You don’t think I’m…” Steve said.

“Well I do,” Tony said, quickly followed by a yelp when Pepper’s elbow connected with his side.

“Like Pepper said, it’s not that strange,” Jan said. “We live with an alien.”

“I think it’s out there … but,” Hank shrugged. “We do live with an alien and Jan and I can shrink. And grow.”

“Well, how do we test it?” Jan asked. “Anyone got suggestions?”

* * *

This was ridiculous. Tony Stark was as irritating as his father. (She was still trying not to think about why she knew that. Her dreams were becoming decidedly more off putting.) Why exactly she needed to go out of town to pick something up that he very well could have brought back to the city with him. Also, why did she have to go collect Howard Stark’s things from the house?

She paused inside her car as she turned it off and just stared at the building.

Shit.

 _Shit_.

She knew that she’d never seen this place before but she _knew_ it. The flowers in the beds were different, but she knew that the front door was going to open up into split level and there was going to be an absolutely atrocious portrait of Howard Stark on the wall.

Damn it. What the hell was wrong with her?

She got out of the car and rang the bell. There was a moment of disorientation when a barefoot Pepper Potts wearing cut off shorts and a tank top opened the door. Somehow she’d expected a pristine and impeccably dressed butler. Something with a J. She could picture his face.

“Agent Johnson?” Pepper asked. “Are you alright?”

She smiled and shook her head slightly. “I’m fine. Where are the documents and objects?”

“Come on in,” Pepper said. “Tony started going through the stuff here since we’ve been in New York awhile.” As they walked through the house, she kept seeing things that she knew. There weren’t any portraits of Howard – over the top or otherwise. “He hasn’t been back since sometime in the early 90s. But Howard apparently left a number of things here. Some of it’s Stark Industries related, but there’s some bits that seem to be SHIELD’s purview.”

“Alright. The Director said he’ll take a look at them himself,” she said.

Pepper led her through the house to a basement. There was a fancy lock on the door, but it honestly looked like it would be easy to get through.

(Knowing Howard, there would be other safety measures. Or, knowing Howard, maybe not.)

There were stacks of boxes around the space. Some had neatly typed labels affixed to them. _‘Project notes 1945, Jan-Mar_ ,’ ‘ _Project notes 1945, Apr-May,’ ‘Levitating Car Preliminary Thoughts,’_ and _‘Self flying plane Box 4 / 12_ ’ were a few she could see offhand. Other boxes had a messy scrawl of sharp letters written in bold ink. Half of those she couldn’t read, but one very obviously said _‘Captain America’_ on it.

“Ah, good, you’re here,” Tony said. He pointed to a stack of boxes. “Those are yours. Or Fury’s. I don’t care. I looked through them briefly.” He looked expectantly at her.

“Those ten boxes? Well, get to work,” she said, grabbing a box and heading up the stairs.

Tony looked over and Pepper, who just shrugged.

 

An hour later, Tony and Pepper were loading the boxes they were taking back to the Tower. Some of the boxes Tony didn’t care about somebody else hauling to the SI labs just outside NYC, but some stuff he specifically wanted to look at. Plus there were a couple boxes labeled _‘Captain America.’_ Those were either specifically Steve’s stuff – Tony wouldn’t put it past his father – or it was more stuff on Project Rebirth.

“She knew her way through the house,” Tony said. “That’s weird. I barely even know my way through this place.”

“She also kept looking at the walls like something was missing,” Pepper said. “It’s not a lot to go on, though. Maybe she just got lucky or has really good memory. And some of the art here is weird.”

“You’ve never seen dad’s art collection,” Tony said.

“I’ve seen _your_ art collection,” Pepper said. “I had to curate it for you.”

“Had to?” Tony asked. “Pep, I gave you full rein on that art once I realized how much it bothered you.”

“You have more art than you could possibly hang,” Pepper said.

“If she is Director Carter – and I’m not saying that she is – what do you think she was looking for? And why did she know this place? I thought Carter was just at the LA house.”

* * *

She’d had more dreams again. After Tony Stark’s mansion she’d had more dreams of what increasingly seemed like a previous life. Or insanity. She’d dreamt of the house, of a bleary eyed Howard, of Angie, of Anna and Edwin. (How could she have forgotten Edwin Jarvis?) She dreamed of Los Angeles palm trees and wet, miserable European woods. She dreamed of the Howling Commandoes, of Rose.

And she dreamed of Steve.

She also dreamed of shooting people and being shot at.

She woke up, sweating, after a dream with bullets spraying in her direction. She stumbled towards the bathroom – only a few steps away in her small, New York apartment – and didn’t just splash cold water on her face, but shove her head under the shower head.

Hair dripping down her neck and back, she looked at herself in the mirror. Her pupils were wide and she was pale. There were dark smudges under her eyes from the disturbed sleep she’d had in the last three weeks.

“I am going insane. It has to be that. I am not the reincarnation of Peggy Carter.” She grabbed a towel to soak the excess moisture out of her hair and moved back into the bedroom. The clock showed that it was half past four. She was never getting back to sleep now.

Nobody had told her how little sleep she was going to get with the move and the promotion. Ignoring the dreams, some nights she clocked four hours if she was lucky. If she was really, really lucky she got a whopping six hours. She hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since…

Since she met one Captain Steve Grant Rogers for the first time…

She showered and got ready for her day despite the early hour. If she wasn’t actually going insane, then the problem of Werner Reinhardt needed to be solved. Well, after looking at those files he was a problem that needed solving regardless of the insanity part.

He was out and he knew things that needed to be quashed. And since nobody else knew anything about him, she was damn well going to make sure it was taken care of.

 

SHIELD was never empty, regardless of the day or time. So when she arrived at HQ the lobby was fairly busy still despite that it hadn’t quite hit five yet.

She blocked out the windows in her office – all of them, not just the ones to the hallway. Her office was a mess. The boxes of prisoner riles from The Rat were still lying around. The small coffee table had folders in stacks and stacks. She really needed to clean those.

She sat behind her desk and started a program to generate an aged version of Reinhardt. She didn’t know what he looked like when he got out, but she was going to do her best to find where that son of a bitch went.

 

Tony and Pepper hadn’t told him about the trip out to Howard Stark’s mansion before it happened. Tony told him as he shoved a box into his arms. Pepper was a little more … apologetic about it and told him what they’d seen.

He wasn’t happy with them and he headed to SHIELD not to apologize, that would involve telling her what they thought. Well, he didn’t know what he was going to do when he got there. Apologize for Tony being Tony?

 Well, he’d figure it out when he got there.

Her office windows were blacked out, which was pretty standard of late. He knocked and there was a distressed call to enter. When he pushed the door open he saw the space was only slightly tidier than before. There were still files all over, but they’d been relegated to the coffee table and couch area.

“Ste-Captain,” she said, looking up from her computer. “Did we have an appointment? I’ve – how is it three already?”

“Uh, no. Tony and Pepper mentioned that they’d seen you yesterday. That you’d been out to, well, the other mansion,” Steve said.

“Yes,” Johnson said slowly.

“I – wanted to apologize for Tony being Tony I guess?”

“Oh – ah, it’s alright. He’s, Pepper was nice.” The computer made a noise and Johnson looked at it, suddenly going pale. “What? That’s not possible.”

“What is it?” Steve asked.

“That’s – how did he – he should be ancient. He looks exactly the same,” Johnson said. “He was taken into custody in _1945_.”

Steve moved around the desk, classified info be damned. Johnson sounded both stunned and panicked at the same time. There was some program running with three pictures up. One was just the face of an older man and the other two were of the same man, but from very different times.

“What is it? Who is he?”

“That,” she said, stabbing a finger at the older image, “is from 1945. He was released from The Rat in 1997. That,” she said, pointing at the other picture,” is from _2007_.”

“That’s … is he a mutant? How else would that even be possible?”

“I don’t know. But he … I have to find him,” Johnson said. “He did things and I’ve no doubt he’s … conducting more experiments.”

“You want us in on this?” Steve asked her. “Or…”

“Yes. You call Agent Coulson and I’ll brief the Director,” she said.

 

An hour later Fury, Johnson, and the Avengers sans Thor were gathered in the Avengers’ briefing room in the Tower. A variety of pictures were on the screen, some from the mission file and the images of Werner Reinhardt.

“Well, that’s atrocious,” Jan said. “Of course we’re going to find him.”

“How do we find him?” Natasha asked.

“That’s going to take a little more work. If what’s in this file is true,” Fury began.

“It is,” Johnson said.

“-then locating Reinhardt is a top priority,” Fury finished. “All our best people will be on it. Where is Prince Thor?”

“I think he got Loki to meet him in the Park,” Clint said.

“And that takes precedence because?” Fury asked.

“He’s still trying to convince Loki to return to Asgard,” Phil said blandly even as a few other Avengers exchanged glances with one another. That was hardly unsuspicious. 

Fury didn’t look convinced but continued. “The objective is to capture and contain Reinhardt.”

“Then we lock him up in a bottomless pit that he can never crawl out of, right?” Tony asked.

Fury didn’t answer. Even Johnson eyed him.

The door to the room burst open. “Excellent news, friends! Loki has agreed to return to Asgard to,” he trailed off, looking at Fury and Johnson. “Ah, did we have a meeting?”

“Yes,” Fury said flatly.

Thor sat down in an empty chair. “Apologies, I received word from my brother this morning that he was willing to discuss returning to Asgard to – to see our mother,” he said, stumbling at the end.

“To see your mother?” Fury asked.

“Yes. She misses him terribly. As does the Lady Sif as well. And I would prefer if I could see my brother more frequently as well. We have lost much, the two of us.”

“Well, if you could keep your attention here, we were going over information on a Hydra operative who has somehow managed to reverse the aging process and is currently in the wind.”

“We can give him the rundown,” Tony said. “And I’ll get Jarvis to help with the search.”

Johnson gave a noticeable twitch.

“Yeah, we’ve got this. You can go back to SHIELD and look for him,” Jan said.

Fury sighed. “Do you know anything about blue angels?” he asked Thor.

“No,” Thor said. “I know of no race that is referred to as such or calls themselves that name. There are a variety of races that are blue, such as the Frost Giants and Kree. Angels have wings, though, yes? I can think of no winged race with blue skin.”

“Alright. As soon as he’s located we’ll formulate a plan. We’ll move quick,” Fury said. “Carolyn’s upstairs?”

“You’ll probably end up taking her back if you want her to look into this,” Phil said. “She’d rather use the computers in her office.”

“SHIELD does not have better computers or internet than my Tower,” Tony protested.

“Take that up with my wife,” Phil said as Fury and Johnson left.

“Thor, what did,” Clint began, but Tony held up a finger to shush him.

After a minute Tony asked, “Jarvis, they gone?”

“Director Fury and Agent Johnson are in the elevator heading to the Coulson floor.”

“Did you see how she reacted to Jarvis?” Natasha asked. “That was interesting.”

“Your brother agreed to go to Asgard to look into reincarnation?” Phil asked.

“Yes. He finds the concept most interesting. We will travel to Asgard in two days time,” Thor said. “I was unaware of our mission when I made my commitment.”

“We may need you on this,” Steve said.

“It’s also possible that we won’t need you, though,” Hank said. “This may not be a case of brute force.”

“We also may not find him before you get back,” Clint said.

“I will have to remain on Asgard for a period of time for celebration. After that I will return. I doubt Loki will return without me to urge him along,” Thor said.

“That’s understandable,” Jan said. “And I hope things go well when he gets there.”

 

 

[1] According to _Agent Carter_ , Peggy did work for Bletchley prior to joining up with the SSR.


	3. mysteries of destinies

Despite knowing that Reinhardt looked the same and was Hydra, finding him proved to be difficult. All the best people were on it, using technology and word of mouth to try and find him. Things continued as normal, though with increased stress, in the Tower and at SHIELD. Everyone was just waiting. Once somebody found where he was hiding out things were going to move quickly.

Thor left with his brother and it brought another round of discussion about the as-yet unplanned Asgardian embassy. (The general consensus was that it needed to be done ASAP, but there were only so many things they could hurry along when Asgard was slowing down the process.)

She was still dreaming, which continued to be irritating. The mention of Jarvis at the briefing with the Avengers had thrown her. She’d had a moment of disorientation, expecting Edwin Jarvis. To find out that Tony Stark had named the AI that ran his home and his life after his father’s chauffer and butler … She didn’t quite know how to feel about that.

There was one night she was getting ready to sleep when she went on autopilot. It was the only explanation really as to why she pulled out the foam rollers that she’d hauled from England despite never using them before. It wasn’t until she was brushing her teeth and looked at her reflection and realized her hair was in curlers. She didn’t take them out given the effort to do them and how tired she was. The curls did earn her more than a few odd glances the next day.

Poor Steve had looked stunned the entire ten minutes she was near him.

She’d given up on ‘reincarnation isn’t real.’ There were mutants, aliens, gods, and superheroes. Just because nobody talked about it didn’t mean it wasn’t possible, right? She just didn’t know how to bring it up. Going up and saying, “Steve, it’s me, Peggy. I promise,” seemed like a terrible plan. She had some proof given the stories vs. things that were written down, but how believable was it? And if Steve believed, no one else on the Avengers or in SHIELD would. She didn’t have any proof for them. Talking about how she knew to make Steve Grant Rogers moan was not going to convince anyone but Steve. Not that she wanted to tell anyone else that.

Maybe there was some story of Howard or Anna or Jarvis that would convince Tony Stark.

Actually … maybe there was a way to convince Tony.

Reinhardt was the priority though. And convincing Tony Stark would take some time to prepare for.

Locating Reinhardt was difficult, though. They weren’t getting much back from the feelers they were sending out. What word they did get wasn’t good. He was deeply underground and deeply entrenched in Hydra. His role, whatever it was, was crucial for Hydra.

She refused to believe that they wouldn’t find him. They _had_ to find him. What he’d done … And how had he managed to reverse the aging process?

And with aliens a verified thing now, his talk of blue angels was starting to sound plausible. Prince Thor hadn’t heard of anyone matching that description before, but there had to be alien races he’d never met. Maybe it was a race that had gone extinct in the centuries since the stories were first told. Not that she was going to give him the satisfaction once they found him. There were other avenues now, to look into blue angels bearing gifts either to save or destroy the Earth.

* * *

It had been nearly a week since the Reinhardt reveal and there hadn’t been any new information. Somehow Jan’s idea for ‘Avengers dinners’ had become a semi-official-unofficial thing on the party deck. It certainly helped that they kept using Tony’s credit card to pay for the food. The more unofficial ones tended to just be whoever was in the Tower and not working on anything time sensitive.

“How likely is it that y’all are going to find this guy?” Darcy asked. “I mean, if he hasn’t popped up before now?”

“Y’all,” Tony said as if the word left a bad taste in his mouth.

“I’m from Maryland. We’re below the Mason-Dixon. That makes us the South whether or not the South or Maryland wants to admit it. I can say y’all if I want to,” Darcy said as she leaned forward to get more pizza. There was a mountain on the coffee table and six different varieties. “So how likely is it that _y’all’re_ actually going to find him?” she asked, pointedly looking at Tony as she stressed the contraction.

“Not likely any time soon,” Clint said. “He’s deep within Hydra and while there’re a few pics, we still don’t know what his name is.”

“I’m working on it,” Tony said.

“Thor and Loki might be back before we find him,” Jan said. “Much less have a plan to take him down.”

“Loki won’t be back for a while,” Jane said. “Either Sif or his mother won’t let him. Thor will be back first, but it’s going to be at least a week of feasts for his welcome back party.”

“Thor will hopefully bring information about an embassy with him,” Natasha said. “Fury’s getting twitchy.”

“Odin’s being … uncooperative,” Jane said, trying to be charitable.

“Odin’s a dick,” Darcy said, causing Tony to snort.

“So, if it’s going to be a while before we find Reinhardt, then we can focus on other stuff,” Jan said. “Loki can do his research on Asgard and we can do some more here and investigate.”

“I don’t know about that,” Steve said. “What do you mean with investigate?”

“Well, you know, Carolyn said she might know a guy and there have to be other things we can do,” Jan said.

“I think she’s already tried contacting him,” Clint said.

“Let’s just ask Johnson. Why can’t we do that?” Darcy asked. “Just go up and say ‘Hey, Steve thinks you’re reincarnated. Are you?’”

“That’ll go over great,” Steve said.

“Can we invite her to dinner?” Hank asked. “I haven’t met her that often either.”

“That’s … actually not necessarily a bad idea,” Steve said.

“We could bring up stuff that she might remember,” Jan said. “I’ll call it a do-over for the one she missed.”

“I’m not inviting her this time,” Steve said.

“Tomorrow’s good for everyone, right?” Jan asked, looking around. “We need an actual table though. Who has the biggest table?”

“Tomorrow?” Tony asked.

“Carolyn’s probably got the biggest space,” Clint said. “I’ll ask her.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s only 6. You think she’s still there?”

* * *

She’d accepted Clint’s dinner invitation to the Avengers Tower. She’d been preparing for her plan to convince Tony Stark and was pretty sure it was perfect. Now seemed as good a time as any, and it was the best opportunity she was going to get. It was either going to work, or it wouldn’t. She wasn’t going to say anything about it, just drop the evidence in front of him. Which wouldn’t happen until the end of dinner, unfortunately.

The painfully awkward dinner. She also came to the conclusion that the Avengers had the same suspicions about reincarnation given how much they kept bringing up the Howlies.

And then it was time for dessert, also known as the plan to convince Tony Stark.

“You didn’t have to bring anything, much less something you baked,” Carolyn said as she pulled the tarts out of the oven where they’d been warming. They were all eating in her space because the floor they usually ate on didn’t actually have a table to sit at.

“It’s an old recipe,” Peggy said. “It wasn’t a trouble at all.” It wasn’t like she’d tried the recipe twelve times trying to replicate a recipe she learned in 1946 using ingredients that had been altered since then.

(She really should have known something was up when bananas started tasting weird.)

Tony hadn’t started in on his apple tart, murmuring to Pepper, when Darcy said, “Holy God this is amazing,” through a mouthful.

“Like I said, it’s an old recipe. They’re always the best,” Peggy said. “A very dear friend gave the recipe to me.”

Tony finally started in on the apple tart in front of him. He got one bite and a couple of chews in before dropping his fork. “What the fuck.”

“Tony?” Pepper asked. “Is something wrong?”

“Where the hell did you get this recipe from? It was a secret,” Tony said, staring her down.

“A friend,” Peggy said. “She and her husband were dear friends.” She said this was the only secret she kept from him, which drove him mad. Especially once she told me what it was.”

“You – Christ,” Tony said. “This is – it tastes exactly the same. I haven’t had this since …”

“You named your AI that runs your life – aside from Pepper – after the man who ran your father’s life,” Peggy said.

“Jarvis was a real person?” Jane asked.

“Edwin. His wife Anna gave me the recipe,” Peggy said. “It was one of the few things she would actually cook.”

“You – we sent Loki to look at reincarnation on Asgard and you just drop it in our laps with dessert!” Darcy said.

“You sent Loki to Asgard?” Peggy asked.

“Thor asked him, but Sif and Queen Frigga were probably ulterior motives,” Jane said.

“Peggy,” Steve said, drawing her attention. “Would you come with me for a second?”

As the two of them not only left the kitchen, but the whole floor, furious whispers erupted behind them. Steve didn’t touch her, not even once they were in the elevator. He also didn’t say anything until they were on another residential floor – presumably his own.

“You – you remember?” he asked, turning to face her. “How?”

“I started dreaming of Reinhardt after the trip to Camp Lehigh. I found the files hidden there and even though I didn’t read them until later, they must have triggered something. And then I kept dreaming.”

“What do we do now?” Steve asked. “I know I don’t want to waste this chance, but,” he trailed off.

“We should look into it. I’m assuming Thor and Loki will come up with something, but I’d feel more comfortable with having other input,” Peggy said.

“Carolyn said she may know someone,” Steve said. “Follow me,” he added and headed further into the apartment. He stopped in the sitting room and picked up the cell phone sitting on the coffee table. He sat down on the couch and began texting. She sat next to him as he said, “I’ll see if she can find him faster.”

“That’s good,” she said. “What do _we_ do though? Until we find out what’s going on.”

“I’d like to know about what happened after,” Steve said. “Not what was in the files, but the other stuff.”

“Howard kept looking for you. I convinced him not to let Zola into SHIELD,” she said. “I had a lovely friend called Angie.”

(The next morning she did not ‘walk of shame’ out of Steve’s apartment, regardless of what Howard’s brat said. There was nothing shameful about sex and they’d honestly fallen asleep on the couch catching up.)

* * *

Whoever it was that Carolyn knew – or knew of, as it turned out since she had yet to meet him – didn’t actually seem to be home. Everybody put feelers out to see what they could find. With Peggy’s permission, Charles Xavier took a surface look at her mind to see if something felt different. Mutant minds felt different when compared to human ones, so the theory was that a reincarnated mind would too.

And surprisingly, it did.

Not that they really knew what to do with that information. They’d also come to the unanimous, unspoken conclusion not to bring it up with Fury yet. They were just sort of in this stage of limbo, waiting to find Reinhardt, waiting for Thor and Loki, and waiting for the guy in Greenwich. They were still busy with everything else so Peggy wasn’t able to catch up with Steve as much as they two wanted, but they made do.

Then, out of nowhere, a random guy showed up in the lobby of the PR and Legal offices. Alan, a secretary-security combination, reacted immediately.

 

“Sir, I’m receiving a report that a man appeared on the floor of the Avengers Public Relations and Legal Department offices,” Jarvis said.

Tony immediately began moving to the elevator. “How ‘appeared’ and is he acting threatening? Who’s in the Tower right now? Put them on alert.”

“He appeared out of nowhere, he is not threatening, Mr. Keller reports the man looks bored, and I have already notified all residents. Agents Romanov and Barton are already on their way down.”

“I want to know how he got into my building.”

Downstairs, Natasha and Clint were already there, weapons drawn and pointed at the stranger. Clint ahs his bwo trained on the guy even as he was saying, “Darcy, get back inside behind the bullet proof door and windows.”

“They’re bulletproof?” she asked from where she and other members of the PR team were clustered in the open door. The legal team had the sense to stay behind the door.

“I’m not going to hurt anyone,” the man said. He had an accent, but it was difficult to place. He was facing the elevators and Tony’s first impression was ‘Ren Faire.’ Also tall. Why was everyone around him so tall?

The guy was decked out in blue with a red cape that was somehow more ostentatious than Thor’s. he also had bling around his neck. “How’d you get in here?” Tony asked.

“Magic. Someone has been leaving notes at my house. Forty of them.”

“Do you live in Greenwich?”  Darcy asked from the still open doorway.

“Yes. They all listed this address to contact whoever kept leaving them.”

“God damn it, Carolyn,” Clint said, relaxing his bow. Natasha and Alan both kept their weapons trained on him as Clint pulled out his cell and dialed. “Yeah, that guy you’ve been trying to contact, he just magically teleported his way in … Well, what’s he look like – you’ve never seen him? Well, get home. We’ll take him to the Avengers floor.”

“What’s your name?” Natasha asked.

“Doctor Strange,” the man said. “I’m the Sorcerer Supreme.”

Someone in the cluster of PR employees snorted.

“He says he’s the Sorcerer Supreme,” Clint said into the phone. “Alright.” He hung up and glanced back at Tony. “Carolyn says she was looking for the Sorcerer Supreme, so he’s possibly legit. We’re going to the Avengers floor and she’s bringing guests.”

“Alright,” Natasha said, holstering her weapon. “You, Doctor Strange, into the elevator.” She looked over at the PR team. “And you all are getting a lesson in safety and security.”

“You’re no fun,” Darcy said and began ushering her coworkers back in.

The four of them in the elevator was awkward, but it was worse just sitting in the Avengers briefing room. Phil was there waiting for them, but it was pretty much sitting in silence.

“Is your cape moving?” Clint asked.

“It’s the Cloak of Levitation,” Strange said.

“Is that supposed to explain something?”

“It’s magic.”

“Where’s Loki when you need him?” Clint sighed.

“researching reincarnation,” Natasha said at the same time Tony said, “Magic isn’t real.”

“Don’t get into the magic is science debate, please,” Phil said.

“Reincarnation?” Strange asked.

“We think someone may have a case of it,” Clint said.

“And you contacted me?” Strange asked.

There was a scratching noise at the door. Phil sighed heavily as he moved to let Lucky in the room. “How does your dog keep getting into the elevator?” Tony asked Clint.

“He scratches at the elevator to get on,” Carolyn said as she, Steve, and Peggy walked in behind Lucky. “Jarvis then opens the door on every floor when he gets in the elevator. And Clint installed a doggy door on his door. Lucky likes Honeybee.”

“What?” Tony and Clint asked simultaneously for very different reasons.

“Which of you kept leaving notes at my home?” Strange asked.

“That would be me,” Carolyn said. “I didn’t expect that you’d be gone so long or that you’d just show up here.”

“Do you know anything about reincarnation?” Peggy asked.

“No,” Strange said.

The room sort of – Peggy and Steve specifically – deflated.

“You don’t know anything at all?” Steve asked. “There’s no magic you can do?”

“Why do you need something with reincarnation?” Strange asked. “People believe in it, but I’ve never come across it.”

“I’m reincarnated we think,” Peggy said.

“We just want to have all our bases covered and make sure it’s all fine,” Phil said.

“You’re a lot less useful than I was led to believe,” Carolyn said. “Can’t you do some magic on her or something? She looks different telepathically. Maybe she looks different magically.”

“You got a telepath to look at her mind?” Strange asked incredulously. “How did you manage that?”

“I know people,” Carolyn said. “I actually know a higher than average number of telepaths. I also know a higher number of level one mutants than average.” She frowned.

“So, could you take a magical look?” Peggy asked.

Strange sighed and stood, Peggy following suit. Tony leaned over to Clint. “Where are Jan and Hank?”

“With Jane in the lab,” Clint said. “Nat and I decided someone had best stay with her. We’ll give the all clear after he’s gone.”

“And then you’ll have that talk with the PR team?”

“Both teams are getting it even though legal stayed where they were,” Clint said. “I’m gonna let them stew first, though.”

They both looked back over to Strange and Peggy. Steve was watching the two with laser focus. Strange did some sort of hand waving thing and mandala style circles appeared in front of his hands, making everyone lean forward. He moved his hands in some sort of pattern and frowned.

“Well,” he said slowly. “You are … different. I don’t know what that means, though.”

“Well, I guess that’s better than nothing,” Peggy said. “Thanks.”

“Please don’t contact me unless there’s an actual problem. Or never,” Strange said and strode out.

Steve looked away from Peggy to the others. “So I guess that’s it. And we wait to see what Loki turns up?”

A number of phones buzzed or beeped with a notification. Clint pulled his phone out first. “Jan wants to know if she has to redo the seating chart for the wedding reception again.”

* * *

Two days later Peggy found herself standing in front of a cemetery with Steve by her side. She hadn’t expected to be here, or ever really thought she’d be here. “You have a marker,” she said suddenly. “Did you know that?”

“I do? I didn’t. I know Bucky’s on SHIELD’s list of those who were killed in action,” Steve said.

“I retroactively made him a SHIELD agent. I thought it fitting,” Peggy said. “Howard kept looking for you, but he paid for a marker. It’s near your parents.”

“I haven’t been since … Well, since before I looked like this,” he shrugged. “You ready?”

“Well, I can say this is the strangest first date I’ve ever been on,” she said as she took his hand in hers and walked into the cemetery.

“Sorry?” Steve said sheepishly. “But this is one of my favorite places in the city. Even though it’s a cemetery.”

“No, it’s alright,” Peggy said.

“It’s just that this place hasn’t changed?” Steve said. “I mean, it’s obviously changed. It’s still functioning cemetery. But it’s still the same as it used to be.”

“It’s very beautiful,” Peggy said.

“I used to have sketchbooks and sketchbooks full of this place. I used to come here all the time for practice when I was in art school. Bucky used to have to drag me out of here.”

“I can imagine,” she said, looking around. “Did you, or do you since it’s closer now, spend as much time in Central Park?”

“I run in Central Park, but no, Greenwood’s older. It has more history. And it’s one of the reasons they built Central Park,” Steve said. “Besides, I’m from Brooklyn,” he added with a shrug.

“You actually enjoy running?” Peggy asked.

“I’ve got lungs that work. I’m actually somewhat looking forward to winter.” He smiled. “Though maybe that’s because it was so hot this summer and it’s only just started to cool down.”

“I don’t know if I’m looking forward to winter in New York,” Peggy said. “I imagine it’s going to be much colder than in England.”

They walked together, hand in hand, for a while longer before Steve moved them towards a bench. They sat, pressed close to one another. “So I don’t know what would’ve happened if I hadn’t gone down with the Valkyrie. And I want to hear more about what did happen. But this … Fate, luck, whatever.”

“We had such a brief time together. And I’m different than I was then. Because of what happened after the war and what I’ve been through in this life. I’m not letting anyone or anything take this second chance away from us,” she said. “There’s a lot of things that are going to happen. Do we tell Fury? Do we keep it from him?”

“He’s probably going to be very irritated, but we should probably tell him,” Steve sighed. “He already lost Phil to us.” He shifted slightly to face her more. “Margaret Carter. Margaret Johnson. Will you do me the honor of going dancing with me? You’re in charge of finding the place,” he added.

Peggy laughed and leaned in to kiss him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I forgot about the epilogue when I said there were three chapters, so look for one more next week!


	4. Epilogue - All my thoughts are filled with you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this has taken so long. I wanted to add to what I'd already had written but then school got pretty intense. (Yay grad school and MA thesis prep!) But here it finally is.

“This really is terrible. You know that, right?”

Steve grinned. “You’re the one who wanted to come running with me,” he told Peggy. “The Avengers know better by now. _And_ this is slower than I usually run.”

“Remember, I’ve seen you run. I know how fast you can run. And in bare feet no less,” Peggy said. “Still, we’ve been out here for nearly an hour and you don’t show any signs of stopping.”

“I usually do more, but we can head back to the Tower,” Steve said.

“You know,” Peggy said as they began a route that would take them South to the Tower, “we’ve had followers.”

“What? Fury sent people?”

“Hardly. I imagine they wanted to stare at your backside. It’s quite nice, after all. A few women glared at me when we took that break half an hour ago,” Peggy teased. “Though Fury does know about us, even if we’re going to need to talk to him.”

“Carolyn said something about paperwork,” Steve said.

“Well yes, but I meant more about me,” Peggy said. “We’re looking for a man I have vivid recollections of who will undoubtedly recognize me. And there are other things I know that may be useful. I was the first director for nearly a decade.”

“Do we have to tell him?” Steve sighed.

“Yes. Because Reinhardt’s going to recognize me if nothing else,” Peggy said.

“But what if he wants to run tests on you or study you. I’ve been a military guinea pig. I know what that’s like.”

“Steve, do you really think Nick Fury could lock me up? And if he somehow _did_ manage, I don’t doubt for a moment that you would drag the Avengers into finding me.”

“Yeah. I would,” Steve said.

“And while we’re on the subject of SHIELD, you are going to finish those meetings with medical about your pain tolerance, increased healing, and faster metabolization of pain killers. Because that’s information you’re going to need one day.”

“They keep stick me with needles. I don’t like it.”

“Steve.”

“It reminds me of after Dr. Erskine died.”

Peggy sighed. “Steve, it’s important.” He didn’t look happy so she added, “Steve, we’re not going to let them do anything. And we need to know. What if you get hurt to the point we need to medicate you? We can’t give you things if we don’t know how long it will last? You passed out during an operation from the pain before. I don’t want that to see that again.”

“I’ll think about it,” Steve said reluctantly.

“I want you to do more than think about it, but I’ll settle for that,” Peggy said and took advantage of the red light to pull him down for a kiss.

* * *

 

At about 9 in the morning nearly a week after Doctor Strange showed up at the Tower and was exceedingly unhelpful, the news came that Thor – and Thor alone – had returned from Asgard. By the time he arrived at the Tower from the Bifrost landing site in Jersey, people had gathered in the Briefing Room from the various parts of the Tower and SHIELD HQ in Clint’s and Natasha’s cases. Pepper had coffee and bagels sent up from the café on the retail floors downstairs. Even if they knew Peggy was reincarnated by now (or at least highly suspected it given everything), it would be good to know if Thor or Loki had found anything out while on Asgard.

Thor walked into the room, carrying a satchel over his shoulder. “My friends, I am sorry for how long it took me to return. Much happened while I was gone.” He dropped the satchel down on the table and dropped into a chair. “My brother’s return was widely celebrated with a week of feasting, though he did spend a great deal of time in the libraries as well. Sif called it sulking. He may also have been avoiding certain people.”

“It’s alright,” Steve said. “Actually, some things happened on our end too.”

“It’s been two weeks,” Tony said. “What could you possible have been doing for the last week?”

“On the last night of feasts to celebrate Loki’s return to Asgard, Sif announced their betrothal,” Thor said.

“Wait, _Sif_ announced their engagement?” Clint asked.

“You weren’t there when she found out he wasn’t dead,” Darcy said. “There was tackling.”

“So there was more celebrating?” Jane asked.

“Loki wishes to leave Asgard now, but mother hardly lets him out of her sight. There is much to be done with wedding preparations.”

“A lot’s happened since you left,” Steve said.

“The magic guy Carolyn mentioned broke into the Tower,” Darcy said. “I didn’t get to meet him.”

“Did he cause any trouble?” Thor asked.

“No, it was fine,” Darcy said.

“It may not have been,” Clint said. “Hence the safety and security lecture.”

“He was barely even helpful,” Darcy said. “Oh, Steve and Agent Johnson are dating now.”

Steve sighed.

“She is reincarnated then?” Thor asked.

“That’s what we think,” Steve said. “And yes, Peggy and I are seeing each other. What did your brother find out?”

Thor handed Steve the satchel. He peeked inside to find notebooks, scrolls, and sheets of paper. “I guess I have a lot of reading to do.”

“Make Peggy help,” Jan said. “It’s relevant to her too.”

“Have you found Reinhardt yet?” Thor asked.

“No, he’s still underground,” Natasha said. “Fury’s got people looking for him.”

“And Tony’s probably breaking more than a few laws looking for him too,” Steve said.

“I take offense to that,” Tony said. “Jarvis is the one breaking laws.”

“Do you have to go back to Asgard soon?” Clint asked.

“No. Father has reluctantly permitted me to press forward with an embassy on your world. Mother convinced him finally,” Thor said.

“So. The reincarnation thing is resolved. We’re getting an Asgardian embassy,” Jan said. “Are we all in agreement that barring finding Reinhardt, the next major event – not a catastrophic one, mind you – is my wedding,” Jan said. “Okay?”

“Next big thing, your wedding. But no catastrophe,” Clint said. “Got it.”

The door opened once again and Carolyn walked in. “Sorry I’m late, phone call I had to deal with, glad you’re back, Thor, Pepper Pepper Pepper,” she said.

“Yes?” her sister asked.

“Pepper. It’s October 26.”

“Yeah, Halloween’s in a few days,” Tony said. “It’s also Monday.”

Carolyn ignored him. “It’s the anniversary of the end of the Cuban Missile Crisis in two days,” Carolyn said, grinning wide.

“Does Cuba have more missiles?” Hank asked warily.

“Oh, probably but that’s not this at all,” Carolyn said. “I just got a phone call from Jean. She’s furious.” Pepper frowned.

“About Cuba? I don’t get it,” Clint said.

“But it’s been years,” Pepper said. “It’s happening again?”

“Logan saw them leaving,” Carolyn said. “I think she wants me to look into it. I mean, he went willingly. And like, he’s not been _terrible_ lately. Do you think they’re going to Genosha? I could get insider information if that happens.”

“What on Earth are you talking about?” Jane asked.

“Oh!” Carolyn said, ignoring her. “I also pointed out that he’s managed to miss Halloween again.”

“What’s going on?” Jan asked. “I said no catastrophes.”

“This isn’t…exactly a catastrophe,” Pepper said hesitantly. “The Cuban Missile Crisis is Magneto and Professor Xavier’s anniversary. Usually, though not for the last four years, Magneto kidnaps Professor Xavier for about a week. And he misses Halloween in the process possibly because he hates trick or treating.”

“I hope they’re going to Genosha,” Carolyn said, then frowned. “Oh man, that means I have to tell Fury.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The title of the story and all chapter titles come from songs on my Peggy/Steve playlist. Specifically "This Love" by Taylor Swift, "Bad Liar" by Selena Gomez, "Someday" by John Legend from Enchanted, and "A Minute Without You" by Hanson.

**Author's Note:**

> Genosha was not supposed to be a thing that happened yet, but it did and there's nothing I can do about it.


End file.
